Tour de France motorcycle escort falsely blamed for crash

MOTORCYCLE escorts have an inherently bad name among cyclists. Remember the pile-up at the 2016 Red Hook Criterium caused by a stalled motorcycle or more recently, this.

In fact, cycling bosses have recently spoken out about the use of motorcycles in pelotons, claiming their slipstreams give the lead riders an unfair advantage.

And in the latest slur against powered two wheelers, a number of well-known cycling magazines have claimed a motorcyclist to be responsible for Vincenzo Nibali’s race-ending crash in yesterday’s Tour De France stage 12.

Te prometí algo bueno de Alpe d'Huez profe @jhonjaimeosorio , acá tienes la razón de la pérdida de tiempo de vinci pic.twitter.com/wYUrI73Qkc

— Diego Alvarez (@diegoalvarez12) 19 July 2018

However, Twitter users were quick to point out that it was in fact a spectator’s camera strap that caught Nibali’s bars and sent him crashing to the ground, with photos showing the motorcycle a good few feet away at the time of the incident.

This Picture shows, why @vincenzonibali crashed yesterday. What a shame @LeTour pic.twitter.com/tAlAqY56RW

— Diego Alvarez (@diegoalvarez12) 20 July 2018

Despite finishing the stage and retaining his fourth place position, Nibali was later taken to hospital with a suspected fractured vertebrae.